A prior art automatic focusing system has a distance measuring device which is arranged to measure the distance to an object found in a very limited region in the center of the picture composed. A photographic camera incorporating the prior art automatic focusing system is capable of taking photographs of monotonous composition in which focusing has been made to obtain a sharp image of the object in the picture center, but it is not suitable for taking photographs of different taste.
In an improvement suggested to avoid the disadvantage, a distance measuring device measures the distance to the desired subject found in the center of the picture composed and a memory holds the distance information thus obtained. Then, the camera is directed in a desired direction to compose the picture again, and the shutter is released with the photographic lens adjusted in accordance with the distance information held by the memory so that a sharp image of the desired subject can be obtained.
In a photographic camera incorporating the improved arrangement, however, troublesome operations are necessitated for composing the picture before releasing the shutter, so that inexperienced users would not be able to well operate the camera. Particularly in taking snapshots where the desired subject is apt to move, the user must concentrate his attention on composition of the picture, and so it is the more hard for him to well operate the camera.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an automatic focusing system of a photographic camera which enables the user to readily compose a picture containing the desired subject and which also enables the user to take well focused photographs.